The hard-hitting storyline has seen the mechanic turn to drugs to cope with the homophobic abuse he is suffering in prison

By Carl Greenwood

7th March 2017,9:44 pm

AARON Dingle’s horrific prison ordeal has received a storm of complaints.

Television watchdog Ofcom has received 180 complaints from upset viewers about Monday night’s instalment of the ITV soap that saw Aaron homophobically abused and taunted over the suicide of his father.

The mechanic – who is played by actor Danny Miller – has been suffering homophobic abuse in prison since the other inmates found out he is gay, and he has also been victimised as the son of convicted paedophile Gordon Livesy who hanged himself in the jail in 2016.

Aaron, who was abused by his father as a child, was dragged to an empty cell by an angry mob of prisoners during the episode and beaten by ringleader Jason who spat homophobic insults at him.

He then said: “Your pansy old man died in here. This is where he laid at night thinking about all the things you and him got up to. Did you cry for him to stop, or did you secretly want him to carry on?”

TURNING THE CAR BLUE

FALLING FAST

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate, or not.”

An ITV spokesperson responded: “The threat of violence towards Aaron Dingle was signposted both before and during last night’s episode, which included a pre-transmission warning of scenes some viewers might find upsetting.

“The issue of violence in prisons is a real and highly topical one, and many viewers have praised the storyline for highlighting the homophobia some people face within the criminal justice system.